How EcoVadis Assessments Strengthen Supplier Transparency
Takeaways
- EcoVadis assessments provide independent information to help companies evaluate supplier commitments to sustainability.
- Sustainability is inseparable from the efficiency, resilience, and long-term performance of your operations.
- Dematic connects transparent sustainability practices with automation solutions to build relationships on clear, shared expectations.
Sustainability has moved from aspiration to expectation. Companies are no longer asking only whether a supplier can deliver an automation system on time and on budget. They are asking whether that supplier operates with the discipline, transparency, and responsibility required to support their long-term business goals.
Sustainability commitments are more valuable when they are backed by evidence. For companies evaluating warehouse automation partners, third-party assessments such as EcoVadis provide a way to review how suppliers manage environmental, social, ethical, and procurement topics.
That information can support due diligence when assessing a supplier, make sustainability practices easier to evaluate, and help determine whether a potential partner’s commitments are supported by documented policies, management systems, and measurable progress.
Why third-party sustainability assessments matter
EcoVadis is a widely recognized provider of business sustainability ratings. Its assessments examine suppliers across four areas relevant to supply chain partnerships: environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. EcoVadis evaluates suppliers using 21 sustainability criteria and provides scorecards based on factors including policies, actions, reporting evidence, industry, company size, and operating location.
An EcoVadis assessment does not replace direct supplier engagement, contractual requirements, or your organization’s own due diligence. Instead, it provides an independent assessment of documented practices and gives you another way to evaluate how a potential partner manages relevant sustainability topics.
That distinction matters. Sustainability claims are most useful when a supplier can explain what they mean and provide supporting evidence. As expectations around responsible sourcing, value chain emissions, workplace practices, and sustainability reporting evolve, independent assessments can make supplier information easier to review.
Dematic’s approach to transparency
Dematic treats sustainability as an ongoing journey shaped by continuous improvement and purposeful innovation. It informs how we operate, the standards we apply, and the outcomes we design for customers.
Our approach is built around people, the planet, and a portfolio of intelligent automation solutions. It is supported by defined governance, management systems, and measurable performance.
Sustainability oversight is led by the Dematic Leadership Team under the direction of Mike Larsson, President of Dematic and Member of the KION Executive Board. Performance is measured through defined key performance indicators, helping us monitor progress with discipline and intent.
As part of KION, Dematic also aligns its sustainability approach with KION policies, governance, and science-based climate targets.
In 2025, Dematic:
- Maintained ISO 14001 environmental management system certification coverage across 100% of Dematic locations.
- Maintained ISO 45001 occupational health and safety certification across 100% of Dematic facilities — reflecting a deep-rooted safety culture we bring to our customer facilities.
- Reduced Scope 1 and 2 market-based greenhouse gas emissions by 55.48% compared with the 2021 baseline. This reduction was driven primarily by Energy Attribute Certificate purchases, together with continued efforts to reduce overall energy demand.
These proof points are part of a broader operating discipline to help you understand how Dematic manages our responsibilities and how our practices may align with your supplier expectations.
More information is available in the Dematic 2025 Sustainability Report.
Dematic’s regional EcoVadis assessments
Dematic uses EcoVadis assessments to provide stakeholders with independently reviewed information about how we manage environmental, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement topics.
We’re proud of our latest reported regional assessment results. Using regional assessments provides a more locally relevant view of the management practices supporting Dematic operations. The assessments also show how regional activity connects to KION policies, Dematic priorities, and defined performance measures. Assessment years vary because each region follows its own assessment cycle.
Rather than relying on a single global result, you can review information associated with the regions and teams supporting your operations.
Transparency backed by independent assessment
EcoVadis complements Dematic’s broader sustainability and procurement practices by providing an independent assessment of documented company activity across environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement.
This outside perspective can help you determine whether sustainability commitments are supported by policies, actions, management systems, and performance evidence. It also makes it easier to identify areas of progress and continued improvement.
Sustainable procurement and EcoVadis assessments serve related but distinct purposes:
- Sustainable procurement focuses on how supplier expectations and potential risks are managed across the value chain.
- EcoVadis assessments are an independent evaluation of how a company documents and manages relevant sustainability topics.
Together, these approaches provide information for supplier evaluation and due diligence without relying on broad claims.
Why this matters to your operation
When you select an automation provider, you are choosing more than hardware, software, and services. You are choosing a long-term partner whose practices can affect your supplier due diligence, reporting, risk management, and stakeholder confidence.
As expectations around responsible sourcing, emissions reporting, workplace safety, and supply chain transparency evolve, you need credible, relevant information.
Independent assessments such as EcoVadis provide an additional view into sustainability commitments and whether they are supported by documented policies, management systems, actions, and evidence of progress.
Dematic’s goal is to connect transparency with operational value.
Sustainability is inseparable from efficiency, resilience, and long-term performance. When automation uses space intelligently, reduces wasted motion and energy, and remains adaptable over time, operational and environmental performance improves.
That is the practical value of sustainable automation: connecting responsible design and transparent operations with outcomes you can evaluate.
A shared commitment to measurable progress
The most valuable supplier relationships are built on clear, shared expectations.
You need to know that your partners understand the standards you must meet and can provide relevant information about how they operate. You also need confidence that those partners will continue improving as regulations, technology, and stakeholder expectations evolve.
EcoVadis assessments provide one source of independently reviewed information to support that evaluation. Dematic’s broader sustainability program — including management system certifications, emissions reduction efforts, responsible supplier practices, circular design initiatives, and lifecycle services — demonstrates how we translate commitments into action.
Transparency builds trust. Independent assessment provides additional evidence. Continuous improvement sustains progress over time.